Car found in Jerusalem with Jewish man in trunk
Photo: Jerusalem Police
Israeli man found bound, stabbed in trunk of E. Jerusalem car
Police try to pull over Palestinians from East Jerusalem only to hear man cry for help from inside trunk; police believe incident is criminal and not nationalistic.
A Jewish man was found tied up and stabbed in the trunk of a car belonging to Palestinians from East Jerusalem late Thursday night. He was moderately wounded and police believe the incident is criminal in nature.
The 60-year-old Israeli was found after police attempted to pull over a car, whose driver proceeded o flee. After a short chase, police managed to stop the drivers, two Palestinians from East Jerusalem, aged 19 and 20, and then heard the wounded Israeli call for help from the trunk, where he was found tied up and wounded.
Photo: Jerusalem Police
An initial investigation by the police stipulated that the two Palestinians met the man in Tel Aviv after they reportedly asked for his help. He let them into his car, after which they attempted to rob him. At some point they tied him up and put him in the trunk.
In Jerusalem, the car sparked the suspicion of a police patrol unit that attempted to pull them over, but the car fled in the direction of the a-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Photo: Jerusalem Police
The police chased them through Jerusalem's winding alleys, calling in additional forces and blocking central junctions in the area, until the drivers lost control and crashed into a number of parked cars. The two then exited the car and began to flee on foot, only to be apprehended a few hundred meters away.
In the meantime, a police patrol unit arrived at the scene and began to search the car, eventually heard muffled calls for help. After opening the car's trunk they found the 60-year-old man from Tel Aviv, with his hands tied and a stab wound. An ambulance was called to the scene and he was taken to a Jerusalem hospital with moderate wounds.
The police commander who found him, Khaled Salah, recalled the incident: "I arrived at the scene and began to search the vehicle when our assumption was that it was stolen. Suddenly I heard someone crying 'help' from inside the car. I popped the trunk and inside a found a Jewish man with his hands tied behind his back, bleeding. I immediately called paramedics and we evacuated him."
Roi Yanovski contributed to this report
